3 minute read
ENMU Grad Wins Golden Apple Award
By Helena Rodriguez, Freedom Newspapers
Caught by surprise and left completely speechless and tearyeyed, Portales High School Chorale Director Franklin Smith was named a Golden Apple Award recipient last March. Smith, a music teacher of nine-and-a-half-years, is one of only seven New Mexico teachers to earn this prestigious award which is given for excellence in teaching. According to Alta Elder, outreach coordinator of Distance Education and Outreach at Eastern New Mexico University and a member of the Golden Apple Award selection committee, Smith, a 1996 graduate of ENMU, is believed to be the first music teacher to get this state award. He was nominated for this honor by Doug Main, the father of one of his high school choir students.
PHS Principal Melvin Nusser, students and representatives from ENMU informed Smith about this unexpected award which left Smith temporarily without words to express his thanks. Following the presentation, Smith said, “It’s really amazing, this whole process. I think this award is the coolest thing.” Smith added, “I do feel this choir is very advanced and works hard. I know that year after year, I’ve had students who give everything to it and so we’ve had a consistent program in Portales.” Smith said he loves his job because he is able to play the piano and sing all day. “I work with the absolute best students who have a good and positive attitude. I want to create and enjoy music and the best part of my job is that I am able to show the students how passionate I am about music and, hopefully, they will feel the same way.” Elder, a former assistant principal of Portales Junior High School, gave Smith credit. “I look around the room and see students who’ve stayed with choir since junior high.” She feels Smith is responsible for most of that. Lauren Main, a PHS senior whose father nominated Smith for the award said, “Mr. Smith is just a really awesome teacher. You can tell he really loves his work. He is motivated and he is a really personable guy.” Doug Main said he was motivated to nominate Smith for the award after observing him in action over the past four years, noting Smith’s sensitivity to the needs of his students. “He has had a tremendous and positive impact on my daughter and personally, I see him as a musician of great skill who inspires his students,” Doug said. Another student, Samantha Garcia, echoed the same sentiment, saying, “He’s an awesome teacher. He never gives up on us. He’s always there. Whenever we can’t get a note, he tells us to take a moment and just breathe. I love Mr. Smith.”
As a Golden Apple Award recipient, Smith will receive a computer system donated by Intel and a $4,000 cash stipend which he said he will use to get a master’s degree and take chorale and maybe even computer classes. Smith said he has been inspired musically by his father, Franklin Smith Sr., who was a Southern Baptist minister and by his mother, Diana, who plays the piano. Also, he said his piano teacher, Eunice Schumpert, along with a Mr. Henry were instrumental in getting him plugged into music.
